The Valparaiso University women’s golf team was led by Madison Keil (LaGrange, Ind. / Lakeland) on Tuesday in the third and final round of The Brittany Kelly Classic, a 13-team, 81-player competition hosted by Ball State at the par-72, 6226-yard Players Club in Yorktown, Ind. Keil and Anna Fay (Ada, Mich. / Forest Hills) both cracked the program record book with their performances this week, while the team put together one of its all-time best 54-hole tournament scores.

How It Happened

• Keil stroked a 73 (+1) on Tuesday, the best round by a member of the Beacons during the season so far. That helped her climb into the top 20 at t-20 with a 54-hole output of 228 (+12).
• Keil was joined at t-20 by Fay, who posted scores of 77 or better in each of her three rounds including a 77 (+4) to close out the event on Tuesday.
• Seeing the first action of her collegiate career and golfing as an individual this week, Katelyn McCoy (Chesterton, Ind. / Chesterton) had the third-best Round 3 score by a Beacon. She closed out her debut tournament with a personal-best 80 (+8) on Tuesday.
• Valpo carded a team score of 314 (+26) in Round 3, finishing the event at 938 (+74). The Brown & Gold outdid Western Illinois on the team leaderboard to claim 12^th and finished just six strokes in back of Purdue Fort Wayne for 11^th.
• The host Cardinals won the event at 875 (+11), while Dasa Urbankova of UIC took medalist honors at 211 (-5).

Inside the Round

• Keil’s 73 tied for the best 18-hole score of her collegiate career as it marked the fifth time in her Valpo tenure that she has turned in a 73. She ranks tied for eighth in the program record book with that score.
• Keil had her fourth career round of +1 on Tuesday, tying for seventh in program history for 18-hole score in relation to par.
• Keil and Fay both tied for the fifth-best 54-hole tournament score in program history at 228. In relation to par, their 54-hole score of +12 tied for fourth in program history.
• Valpo’s team score of 938 ranked fourth in program history for 54-hole tournament low. The team’s top four 54-hole tournament performances since the program was formed in 2009 have all come over the last three seasons.
• The team’s 54-hole score in relation to par of +74 ranks third in program history, behind only the 2021 Redbird Invitational (+67) and the 2022 Cardinal Classic (+72).
• Valpo drained 25 birdies during the tournament, 10 of which came courtesy of Fay. She was one of six golfers in the tournament with double-figure birdie production.

Thoughts from Head Coach Jill McCoy

“I’m very proud of Maddie and Anna this week. They are really starting to play solid and consistent. It’s a lot of fun to watch boring golf!”

Up Next

Valpo will be off from competition next week before returning to the course to take part in the Butler Fall Invitational beginning on Monday, Oct. 2 at Highland GC in Indianapolis.